Notes and Essays -- John Brown

By Tim Zadorozhnyy, The Kyiv Independent • 3 min rea d Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Feb. 11 effectively dismissed a U.S.-Ukraine 20-point peace framework, which had been expected to form the basis for peace negotiations.   His remarks come as diplomatic activity intensifies, with trilateral talks involving  Ukraine , the U.S., and  Russia  potentially resuming as early as this week. The dispute over the framework highlights deep divisions over the direction of negotiations. Lavrov said that ahead of the August summit in Alaska, U.S. Special Envoy  Steve Witkoff  handed Moscow a document outlining key issues "in line with realities on the ground." The minister claimed that the sides had identified "real approaches based on the American initiative" that "opened a path to peace" and could have formed the basis for a final agreement. "All subsequent versions are the result of an attempt by  Zelensky  and (Europe) to override the Amer...

from Quora by Elena Gold  Who will have more leverage going into negotiations between Ukraine and Russia? 3 years ago, Russia was in suburbs of Kyiv. Russian special forces were trying to advance toward the government buildings in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The Russians were ambushed and exterminated in the streets of Hostomel airport, just outside the capital. It’s literally just 32 km to the central square of Kyiv, the Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti). That’s how close Russians were to capturing Kyiv — the goal of their “special military operation”. They were very close. Russia invaded Ukraine from 9 directions . The columns were rushing towards Kyiv from 3 directions — plus there were helicopters arriving by air. The special forces arriving by helicopters were supposed to clear the area for military planes to be able to land and bring troops and equipment. That was a very scary moment for Ukraine. Putin immediately asked for “negotiations” and dictated the condition...

Russia effectively dismisses US-Ukraine peace framework, says it contradicts 'real' American plan February 11, 2026 1:39 pm by Tim Zadorozhnyy, The Kyiv Independent •  3 min read  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Feb. 11 effectively dismissed a U.S.-Ukraine 20-point peace framework, which had been expected to form the basis for peace negotiations.   His remarks come as diplomatic activity intensifies, with trilateral talks involving  Ukraine , the U.S., and  Russia  potentially resuming as early as this week. The dispute over the framework highlights deep divisions over the direction of negotiations. Lavrov said that ahead of the August summit in Alaska, U.S. Special Envoy  Steve Witkoff  handed Moscow a document outlining key issues "in line with realities on the ground." The minister claimed that the sides had identified "real approaches based on the American initiative" that "opened a path to peace" and could have formed the basi...

February 10, 2026 "Epstein Files Reveal Efforts to Build Ties With Officials in Russia ."  Feb 10 excerpt from The New York Times   JB - On well-known (notorious?) American intellectual (racheteer?) Epstein, see image/text from  Wikipedia  (his image below) From The NYT: Mr. Epstein’s interest courses through his conversations about Russia. “Girls are incredible,” read a 2018 text from Slovakia’s foreign minister at the time, Miroslav Lajcak, to Mr. Epstein while on his way to meet his counterpart in Moscow, Mr. Lavrov. “Duh,” Mr. Epstein replied. “Its their best export.” “After crude oil,” Mr. Lajcak countered. “Saudi has oil,” came Mr. Epstein’s rejoinder. “Moscow has girls.”

from Quora Jayaram Muthuswamy     Former Representative for JS Magazine in Bangalore. (1970–1982)   58m "Would Putin agree to stop the war if Ukraine moved its troops 25 miles west? "No. [says the author of this article] ..."

Read in Browser Why we keep doing this work Membership Growth Manager Yana Zhuryk Hello dear reader, This is Yana Zhuryk, membership growth manager here at the Kyiv Independent. You haven’t heard from me yet — I usually stay behind the scenes — but you may have seen some of the work I’ve been a part of, like our  anniversary campaign in November . Today I’m writing this email from my dark apartment in Kyiv, curled up under a few blankets with my cat. I feel extremely lucky that she decided to cuddle — it doesn’t happen often, she has that kind of personality. Outside, it’s −15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit). The electricity has been out for around five hours already. My laptop is running on a charging station, and the Wi-Fi is on a power bank. In Ukrainian, February is called  лютий (lutyi)  — literally “fierce” or “severe.” It’s hard to think of a better word for days like this. Maya, my cat, earlier this week I recently had a conversation with my best friends ab...